University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
No. 22 Tar Heels Take Two From Maryland
March 22, 2008 | Softball
March 22, 2008
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A two-run sixth inning rally helped propel No. 22/24 North Carolina (27-6-1, 5-1 ACC) to a 3-2 game two win and a weekend sweep of Maryland (22-7, 0-3 ACC) on Saturday in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels opened the day with a 5-1 victory as Lisa earned her ninth victory of the year. Carolina will remain in the friendly confines of Anderson Stadium this week as the Tar Heels will host Elon on Tuesday and Longwood on Wednesday before Georgia Tech comes to town for another weekend series.
With Carolina trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning of game two coach Donna J. Papa decided to insert some power into the lineup and substituted Lisa Norris to open the inning. After fouling off several pitches the Snellville, Ga. native connected on a pitch that quickly left Anderson Stadium to tie the game at 2-2 and get the Tar Heels back in it.
Jennifer Jacobs followed with a one out double to the left center gap before Dani Manko came on to pinch run. A pop out to second base resulted in the second out of the inning and put the pressure on Danielle Spaulding who delivered an RBI single to left field to push Carolina ahead 3-2 for the victory.
Faith Sutton started the game for Carolina, in her first career ACC start, and allowed two runs in four innings of work. Both of the runs Sutton allowed were both unearned as the Tar Heel defense uncharacteristically committed two errors in the game. Amber Johnson came on in the top of the fifth and was lights out in her three innings of work by not allowing a hit and striking out a pair as she earned her sixth victory of the year.
Norris got the call in the circle in the opening game of the day and produced 10 strikeouts, while allowing just one run in her 11th complete game of the year. The Tar Heels got things going in the bottom of the second of game one when Whitney Allen and Danielle Spaulding connected on back-to-back solo home runs to give Carolina a 2-0 lead.
The Terps picked up their own solo homer in the top of the fourth to cut the lead in half before Carolina tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom half thanks to a two-run double by Norris. An RBI single by Jennifer Jacobs in the bottom of the fifth gave Carolina the 5-1 advantage and the opening game win.
Carolina improves to 27-6-1 overall and a league-best 5-1 in ACC play, while Maryland falls to 22-7 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
